Superior Santa Monica Appliance Repair performs refrigerator repair in Santa Monica, including professional services to repair ice makers that aren’t working. Learn about common ice maker problems below:
Ice makers are perhaps one of the most convenient inventions ever. This is a little luxury many people take for granted. Refrigerator ice makers are relatively simple machines that do not feature a lot of components that can have problems.
Like with any appliance repair, there are basic things that should be reviewed before assuming the worst. And, remember, if necessary, you can replace an ice maker without replacing an entire refrigerator, dependent on the brand and model. First, let’s take a look at a couple of the causes for an ice maker not working.
If the ice maker is making ice but it isn’t dispensing it it is usually a mechanical issue opposed to an electrical issue. This can occur when reorganizing things around in the freezer, you could accidentally jam the control arm up or down. Most of the time the ice maker can be jammed with something else, possibly a chunk of ice. First, check to see if there is something blocking this part from working the right way.
Before beginning the process of clearing out the freezer, ensure your ice maker is on. This is done by moving the metal control arm down. From time to time, moving food around in the freezer can put it into the off position. If the control arm is clear, then there may be ice jammed inside of the ice maker or it’s not getting a good connection.
Check the Control Arm
When the control is down and there’s ice but it’s not ejecting it, there might be a mechanical or electrical problem. This is going to need some more troubleshooting. Ready to get started? First, we need to check the electrical connection. This can be unplugged from the back of the freezer or refrigerator when moving or shifting the freezer contents.
To inspect this, first unplug the freezer and slide away from the kitchen wall. Then, turn off the water supply. Locate the valve on the back of the inside of the freezer. Basically this is what plugs the ice maker into the freezer. Ensure that it’s plugged in properly.
After that, remove any ice that is in the ice maker. This can be completed by adding a little water to help get ice that’s in there out.
Once this is done, restore power to the refrigerator and turn on the ice maker. It could take the solenoid a couple of seconds to react and fill the mold. Once the mold is full, wait around 4-5 hours or so to see if you’ve cleared the issue.
Check for Frozen Lines
More ice maker problems that might cause your ice maker to not make any ice are frozen lines. The water lines could be blocked with frost. This is a pretty simple issue to fix.
First, unplug the freezer and locate the shut off valve. Turn the water off and then get a hair dryer to warm the line or let the fridge sit turned off for a couple of hours and wait until the water line is thawed.
Some brands and models that have a water filter that can freeze or ice up. In these situations, finding the filter is the first step. Then repeat what was done for the iced line.
If an ice maker is not making big enough pieces of ice, there is an issue with the ice maker settings. To adjust the settings, take the upper part of the cover off and find a standard control that has plus and a minus signs. For this process, you might need a flat head screwdriver.
ADDITIONAL REFRIGERATOR RESOURCES
- Refrigerator Noisy
- Refrigerator Water Dispenser Not Working
- Refrigerator Not Cooling
- How Does a Refrigerator Work?